Man made 60 hoax 999 calls court told

A 21-YEAR-OLD man made 60 hoax calls to the emergency services over four months, a court was told.Magistrates in Lowestoft heard yesterday that Ashley Williamson, of Milton Road East, made nuisance calls to emergency services between June 27 and October 18 last year.

A 21-YEAR-OLD man made 60 hoax calls to the emergency services over four months, a court was told.

Magistrates in Lowestoft heard yesterday that Ashley Williamson, of Milton Road East, made nuisance calls to emergency services between June 27 and October 18 last year.

Tess James, prosecuting, said that Williamson made 60 hoax calls - including 30 on one day.

She said: 'Inquiries were made to his mobile-phone provider and he was identified as the owner of the phone. When the phone calls were made, the emergency services had no way of knowing who was making them or whether it was real or not.'

Williamson admitted persistently using a public communications network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety.

Ed Proffitt, for Williamson, said his client had lost his job at Kwikfit and broken up with his girlfriend shortly before the phone calls began. He started drinking heavily and could not remember making the calls.

Mr Proffitt added: 'These types of calls are drunken, nuisance calls... He basically phoned them up in a drunken state and said things like 'I was assaulted last night and I'm going to come in and talk to you about it', to which the operator would reply there was no need to dial 999 and the call would be terminated.'

When recordings of the calls were played to Williamson in interview, he recognised his voice on some of the calls but not others. Mr Proffitt said: 'He does accept some culpability because he has got himself in such a state that his friends have taken his phone and made these calls as well.'

Chairman of the bench Pauline Burrell adjourned the hearing for reports. Williamson was bailed and will return to court for sentencing on February 18.